I was always amused by the prayers of the saintly. “God do this, God don’t do that.” I thought God probably laughed at them too, unless He was a little annoyed by their temerity.

I've always thought you've got to believe in luck to get it.

How stupid lovers can be! But if they were not, there would be no story.

But our lives were not as they seemed, were they, Sophia? No one's life ever is.

People always grumbled. If things went well they wanted them to go better. Give them comfort and they wanted luxuries.

Never regret. If it's good, it's wonderful. If it's bad, it's experience.

I found that married life gave me the necessary freedom to follow an ambition which had been with me since childhood; and so I started to write in earnest.